oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ the united states will stand with the international community in affirming there will be costs for any military intervention in ukraine. >> now it's russia's move. good saturday afternoon to you. i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc. vladimir putin just got the okay from his parliament to send troops into ukraine. some are already there. the latest from moscow, crimea and the united nations straight ahead. plus -- >> take a look at how deep this mud is. four feet in some areas. that basketball rim, ten feet high. the concern is all of this rain and more mud which authorities fear over the next 48 hours

could slide right downhill. >> a muddy mess in southern california where they've gotten more rain in the last three days than about the last 13 months combined. health care reform and the need for it is bigger than any one person in our country. >> and some new insight into the woman who might be president. what the new documents from the clinton library could mean for the former first lady. later, inside the zimmerman trial, what happened, what can we learn and what it means for "stand your ground." plus -- it's the winter of potholes, thousands of them causing billions in damage to our cars. but where do they come from? we'll get to all that in just a moment. but we start with new developments in ukraine. right now, as russia's military continues to stand guard in parts of crimea, back here, the

united nations security council meeting in a rare saturday session to talk about what if anything to do about the fast-moving crisis. meanwhile, a few hours ago in a largely symbolic move, russia's parliament gave president vladimir putin permission to use russia's military in that region soon after word from the white house that they continue to watch closely and consider consequences this afternoon. great britain condemned what it called an act of aggression against ukraine. what's happening now and what does it all mean? nbc's jim maceda is in moscow. bill neely is in crimea. jim, we start with you in the russian capital there. what does that approval of putin's request to use russian troops mean? >> reporter: hi, craig. you're right. it is pretty symbolic. the legislative body that putin requested that use of force from is a rubber stamp, upper house

of parliament. and it doesn't mean that putin will now send in more troops into crimea. there are thousands there already all part of russia's black sea fleet. large numbers have been seen there over the past 48 hours, securing airports, government buildings, telecom towers. what the approval does mean is it's official now. russians have been mobilized in crimea. they can now all put their patches back on. and the approval of course gives putin more options. it allows him to strike not only crimea but anywhere in ukraine. and of course that spikes the tension even higher. >> jim, any word at this point on a timetable? >> reporter: not that we're aware of, no. but i can tell you there's been a lot of reaction already to the -- from lawmakers in the russian parliament today regarding president obama's warning last night of consequences.

they're not taking that well at all here in moscow. they're said that it was an insult, it was crossing a red line. and that it led to lawmakers recalling today the russian ambassador to the united nations. though of course it's up to putin to decide on that. but it's clear that the already cool relations between russia and the united states over things like syria, edward snowden and missile defense got a lot worse now over ukraine. craig? >> those winter olympics seem like they happened so, so long ago now. nbc's jim maceda for us in moscow, jim, thank you. let's turn now to nbc's chief global correspondent, bill neely, who's in crimea. >> reporter: the crisis here in crimea is deepening. but so, too, worries of an imminent russian takeover. we have seen russian boots on the ground here today, well-armed, well-disciplined men ringing key sites. they're at the interior ministry

with rocket-propelled grenades. they're ringing crimea's parliament, machine guns on the ground in a show of force and they're also at crimea's main military airport. there overnight, up to a dozen russian aleutian transport planes brought in, including russian attack helicopters. ukraine's defense minister says around 6,000 additional russian troops have arrived. no confirmation of that. he calls it an invasion, whether you agree with that word or not, it certainly is an intervention. and the new ukrainian -- untested ukrainian government has to some degree lost control of this region already. big pro-russia demonstrations here today and there will be a vote at the end of the month to decide who rules crimea. so everyone here waiting to see what will happen tomorrow after that vote in the russian parliament. will there be russian troops on the streets with their insignia,

with no masks on their faces saying that they are from russia? this place is a tinderbox. >> bill neely on the ground for us there in crimea. thanks to you. i want to bring in ambassador dennis ross. currently a distinguished fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and an msnbc contributor as well criminal jack jacobs is here, medal of honor recipient, also msnbc military analyst. thank you both for being with me. colonel, let me start with you, what can we make of today's developments? what can we make of president putin getting this symbolic approval from the upper chamber there in russia? saber-rattling or real threat? >> really serious. the people who see the threat of course the most are the ukrainians. there's another audience for all this and that's domestically the russian people who would like to see a little expansion of russia's capability to influence events as it had been on their

heels in the last decade or so. and also the united states and the eu, a demonstration that russia is back. but the real threat, of course, the ukrainians -- as jim maceda said, there were already plenty of russian troops in crimea for some time. the biggest naval base -- as a matter of fact, the only warm-water port in the russian navy is there in crimea. so they're going to defend it to what they perceive as any threat internally or externally. so no saber-rattling, they're very serious. >> ambassador, russia, ukraine, great britain, the united states signed what's called the budapest memorandum back in 1994. point 2 of that agreement states, the united states of america, the russian federation and the united kingdom reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of ukraine and that

none of their weapons will ever be used against ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the charter of the united nations. under this agreement, ambassador, is the united states obligated to get involved if russia moves against ukraine? >> well, i think we're certainly obligated from a kind of moral and political sense. it doesn't obligate us to do anything from a military standpoint. but i do think that russia is obviously violating that memorandum. that memorandum was concluded at a time when the ukrainians were giving up their nuclear weapons. they had been part of the soviet union. what the russians are doing right now is pretty much doing what they did in georgia, in south ossetia and whatever you have a russian population within what is now a neighboring state, what used to be a soviet union, the russians are making it pretty clear that they're prepared to support separatism.

they had an approach to ukraine. clearly what they hoped in ukraine isn't going to place. now they're positioning themselves to take back crimea. the rest of the world ought to be clear that when you violate an agreement, there should be consequences. >> president obama yesterday warning russia not to essentially up the ante in ukraine. this is what president obama said in part. take a listen. >> it would be a clear violation of russia's commitment to respect the independence and sovereignty and borders of ukraine. and of international laws. and just days after the world came to russia for the olympic games that would invite the condemnation of nations around the world. and indeed the united states will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in ukraine. >> we have seen this before. we saw it in syria, for instance, when the white house talked about syria early on. when the president says, there will be costs, how concerned

should the administration be that those words could very much come back to haunt them? >> i think the russians are automatically assuming it's all empty threats. i think what's interesting is the last bit of what the president said. not that the united states is going to do anything but that we stand with the international community. the costs are wholly a function of what you can get away with. the u.n. security council is going to be talking today, i believe, about it. but don't forget, the russians have a veto in the security council. so disregard any action from the united nations. we're not going to act independently, to be sure. and as you suggest, our track record of drawing lines in the sand and then doing anything about it is very poor indeed. i think the russians have nothing to fear here. >> nothing to fear? >> no, nothing whatsoever. >> ambassador, this is -- lawmakers have started putting out statements on a saturday afternoon. this is part of what arizona senator john mccain said -- quote, every moment that the united states and our allies fail to respond sends the signal

to president putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in ukraine. there is a range of serious options at our disposal at this time without the use of military force. i call on president obama to rally our european and nato allies to make clear what costs russia will face for its aggression and to impose those consequences without further delay. shortly before the broadcast, we heard from senator bob corker, republican, tennessee, ranking member of the foreign relations committee, calling for sanctions against russia. what are the political considerations for this president, ambassador, and how effective can sanctions be against russia at this point? >> well, let's divide us into two parts. i think the first thing that you said, you do have to weigh your words very carefully. you don't want to be implying that we're going to do something that we're not going to do because then the words begin to become completely devalued. having said there's going to be consequences and costs, there at

least needs to be political and economic cost the second questi which is what impact can sanctions have. if we expect the sanctions to prevent the russians from taking crimea, that's an illusion. that's not going to happen. but what you are trying to do is demonstrate to the russians there's going to be a price they're going to pay over time that they're not going to like. and i think it has to be in the economic area. there's trade areas where the russians have some interests. the russians may believe that because they provide natural gas to the europeans, they'll be very reluctant to impose economic sanctions. the russians should be thinking pretty hard about that. the truth of the matter is, the attractiveness of their natural gas over time is going to decline. what you may have in president putin is someone right now who everyone thinks plays chess, meaning he thinks three moves ahead. right now, i think he's playing checkers. and i think one of the things we can do is we can and should try to mobilize a series of economic sanctions on the russians. putin may believe not only that

he has leverage on the europeans but also on us because he doesn't -- we are fearful that if we put too much pressure on him, that will come back to haunt us in the negotiations with iran. we have a common interest in terms of iran not having nuclear weapons. so that's one where we shouldn't be afraid to fear if we do something on this, it's somehow going to come back to haunt us on that. truth is, if we don't do anything on this, it will haunt us not only in the ukraine but elsewhere as well. >> we have to leave it there. ambassador dennis ross, thanks as always. colonel jack jacobs, thanks to you. despite all the rain, california still needs more. don't tell that to the people who need to dig out of the mud right now. and later, what you read on the side of the cereal box and other boxes as well, it's about to change. big-time. what's behind those numbers? you're watching msnbc. r. clean doesn't want to lug a whole bunch of cleaning supplies. that's why he created the magic eraser extra power. just one eraser's versatile enough to clean all kinds of different surfaces

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in southern california, a powerful rainstorm is forcing more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes because of flooding and mud slides. the weather channel's david m l malcolf joins us. >> right now, there's sunshine. but every once in a bhn in a wh starts to pour. we had more rainfall fall in one afternoon than in the last nine months. that's not the kind of drought relief they need. this is the los angeles river. it's not a river in a classic sense where you may go boating down it. this is normally just a trickle down a concrete tunnel of water. so it's just a trickle. but when the water really comes off of all the flood channels,

it channels right into the l.a. river, not only water but it's also all of this debris. take a look at that. you can see where all the debris just catches right there. that's all the things that have been sitting in the l.a. river because they haven't had so much rain lately. they have had a major drought for months and months. and now this is happening. it's not going to really relieve the drought was a all this water just goes to the ocean. it doesn't have time to sink into the ground. where it is sinking is the worst of places over near the burn areas in monrovia. these are areas that burned recently in the wildfire season that we've had. and when that happens, it takes away all of the root structures that hold those mountains in place in neighborhoods. now, those mountains usually sit right behind someone's house. could you imagine that, if that burned away? then you get all this water, then all of that mountain is going to come into your neighborhood.

it's happened before in that area of azuza back in the '60s. this is a huge mud slide danger, when the mud starts to slide, it is rocks as big as volkswagens that come into people's living room rs and just bash through their walls. cars go down the streets and i've been inside homes where the mud is so high, that it's up to here and then the ceiling is here. so you have to kind of crawl through there. it's a really bad situation. they're just waiting there, like a loaded gun. and they don't know when this mountain is going to come down. that is the problem with the mud slide in the burn areas. >> dave, thank you. be safe out there. >> reporter: sure. anti-government protests continue in venezuela. groups demanding the release of students arrested during the nearly three weeks of unrest are calling for a march in caracas tomorrow.

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only from at&t. a clinton white house document dump. archivists from the clinton presidential library released thousands of records that detail the role then first lady hillary clinton had in her husband's presidency. and for a look at what insight those documents give, i'm joined by msnbc's karen finney, host of "disrupt with karen finney." we should note here, hillary clinton's deputy press secretary as well before her glamorous tv days. 4,000 pages. >> yeah. >> we can expect this to happen over the next few weeks. >> sure. >> anything in these documents that could in any way, shape, form or fashion come back to haunt hillary clinton? >> i don't think so. what's interesting, one of the parts that was most interesting was looking at the conversations about health care reform.

i don't think there's anything to haunt her but it's interesting to see how there we were talking about how contentious congress was, how difficult it was going to be to get something done. if anything, you see patterns repeating. i think if there is any contradiction, that's something she would have to deal with in the context of the campaign. >> you mentioned the contradiction, one that jumps out, her stance on the individual mandate back then. at the height of the battle for health care, saying it was too risky. this is a snippet from the documents. she says that that is politically and substantively a much harder sell than the one we've got. because not only will you be saying the individual bears the full responsibility. you will be sending shock waves through the currently insured population that if there is no requirement that employers continue to insure then they too may refuse to support -- what does that say about her

evolution on that particular issue? >> i think it says more about the evolution of the country. if you remember back in the campaign in 1992, health care reform and the economy, two major issues. still major issues today. but the level of desperation among americans who have lost their health insurance, particularly in the aftermath of the housing boom where a lot of people lost their homes because of medical bills, i think the country's changed in terms of how we feel about the urgency of health care. but i do think what's similar back then -- and where she's evolved is understanding the politics of what is possible and what is not going to be possible to get done. >> you were also mentioned in these documents. >> yes. >> you were mentioned in the section where they talk about internet. >> yes. the tubes. >> the mid-'90s. >> i had an idea that it was going to be big. >> did it end up panning out? >> we built the first website for hillary clinton. that was the first website a first lady has ever had. >> karen finney, we'll let you

go because karen finney will join us at 4:00. "disrupt" every weekend right here on msnbc. the latest on the crisis in ukraine as the security council meets here in new york. that's up next. also, inside the trial of george zimmerman. why one veteran court watcher says the prosecution blew it, precisely how they blew it, we'll talk about that. and a terrifying story from china after a group of men attack a train station full of people. 27 are dead so far. details next. this is msnbc. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose...

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we continue to follow breaking news from ukraine. right now, russian president vladimir putin has asked and received permission from the russian parliament to use military force in crimea. white house officials at this point say they are monitoring the situation there. ukraine's acting president says there is no basis for russia's act of aggression.

the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine will be joining me at the top of the hour. we continue to watch what's happening there. here are other stories topping the news on a saturday afternoon. three people have been found alive and they've been rushed to the hospital, including an 8-year-old boy. an avalanche off a mountain in montana, they had to clear a path for the ambulance to get the victims out. an american airlines flight out of dallas had to make an emergency landing after the jet hit a bird after take-off. there was minor damage to the ingin. they took the plane out of service and put passengers on another jet to continue to reagan national. a group of knife-wielding men attacked a train station in southwestern china leaving at least 27 dead and another 109 people injured. the state-run news in china said the men were wearing uniforms when they stormed the railway station and that gunshots were

heard after police responded. back here, the prosecution blew it in the george zimmerman trial, that's according to a new book which hit bookshelves this weekend. lisa bloom covered the trial, was, quote, astonished by what she witnessed but she says for her, none of it was a surprise. "suspicious nation," the inside story of the trayvon martin injustice and why we continue to repeat it. it's a bestseller now. it takes the reader through what bloom says are the six biggest mistakes made by the state of florida in that case. lisa bloom is here with us. we should continue to note that george zimmerman has sued nbc universal for defamation. the company strongly denies the allegation. in the book, you claim among other things essentially that the attorneys' choices, the prosecution attorneys, their choices were nothing short of astonishing. what do you believe the

prosecution went wrong? >> you and i covered this case together for msnbc. as i was watching it, i saw a case that was going off the rails. when it was over, i just couldn't put it behind me because it seemed to me that something very wrong was happening in this case. i had that gut feeling like a lot of people have. but i don't want to just base my opinions on gut feelings. i wanted to know the facts and the evidence. so i went back, did new interviews with witnesses. i start with inside the jury room with a lot of new information there. i think the biggest blunder by the prosecution was missing the smoking gun evidence, which was that george zimmerman's gun was hollist holstered behind him, inside his waistband. he's caught on videotape demonstrating that the day after the shooting and the prosecution failed to argue in that case, trayvon martin who zimmerman says was on top of him, could not have seen and reached for the gun in that position unless he had x-ray vision. >> you also write, quote, our laws, beliefs, assumptions and blind spots combine to create the conditions that led to the

death of trayvon and made zimmerman's acquittal by far the most likely outcome. what are some of those beliefs and blind spots? >> the question is why does this continue to repeat? why is it more than just trayvon martin or jordan davis or renisha mcbride? there are three big factors that i talk about in the second half of the book. probably the biggest is racial bias in america. most of us don't want to think we're racist. everybody says their color blind. but we continue to have these outcomes. what's going on? at the root of it is implicit racial bias. it's a free test developed by harvard researchers. a lot of us may be shocked at what you discover when you take that test. >> i've taken it. and i was also surprised. >> about 50% of african-americans test for racial bias against african-americans. about 80% of whites do. so it's very disturbing when you find that out about yourself. the good news is that you can change it. there is hope.

and i have a lot of examples in the book about doctors, police, judges and juries who can make changes once they're aware of these biases. >> you also talk about the gun culture that exists in this country and how there is almost one gun per american. and you note the fact that we have the highest rate of gun deaths in the united states of america as well. who's more to blame for trayvon martin's death? is it the gun culture that exists in this country, the culture that we celebrate, or is it just george zimmerman? >> i think there's a big difference between keeping a gun in your home for self-defense and walking around with a concealed loaded weapon when you're going to target. that's what george zimmerman did. when you add to that this is someone who had a history of shoving a police officer, having a woman getting a restraining order against him, he got one against her, this is not somebody who should have been walking around with a loaded weapon. after this case, sanford, florida, passed a law that neighborhood watch guys can no longer walk around with loaded weapo

weapons. that's not safe. that's why we have the highest rate of gun violence in the developed world. >> people seem to be buying the book. but this is what "the l.a. times" said about it. at its best "suspicion nation" is a thorough e visration of the amateurish job done by the florida prosecutors who tried zimmerman. at its worst, it's like turning on the television and listening to yet another annoying television pundit make sport of a human tragedy. what was your hope -- what were you trying to accomplish -- >> i don't understand the second part of that. if people don't like the book, they don't like the book. this was a painful process for all of us. it continues to be. what i thought was important was to expose what the prosecution did wrong in this case. these are public officials, paid by our tax dollars, they're accountable to us. for all those people who felt in their gut something was wrong and who are told, you have to get over it, the system played out, move on, i wanted to say,

your gut is right. here's why, from the point of view of facts of the evidence. >> lisa bloom, i enjoyed covering that trial with you. you were insightful if nothing else. i've started the book. it's a good read. thank you for stopping by. >> i appreciate that. >> be well. my next guest was elected to public office at 22. now he hopes to make more history. perhaps becoming south carolina's first african-american statewide office holder since 1872. yes, 1872. he's also vice chairman of the south carolina democratic party. good to see you, sir. >> thank you for having me this saturday afternoon, craig. >> it's a steep climb for democrats in south carolina. what's different this time? >> well, for me, it's about another step in the journey. my parents always told me as i was growing up i could be anything in the world, just be a

change agent. since the agent of 21, 22, when i won my first elections, we've tried to improve the public education system here in south carolina, improve our roads and bridges, prepare a new generation for the 21st century global economy. i hope that message resonates loudly because for me it's not about what south carolina was. it's not about what south but it's about what south carolina is. carolina can be. >> you said something this week on "morning joe" that caught a few folks by surprise regarding the minimum wage. as you know, president obama has made raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, a priority. this week, you advocated raising it gradually. in one of your counties that you represent, the average family takes home $21,736 a year. in denmark that is the capital there in bamburg, it's about $11,243. statewide in south carolina, below the national average, roughly $44,000623. why advocate raising the minimum

wage slower when it seems so many of the people you represent could use the help now? >> well, thank you for that question. for me, it's a balance. and you're right. i come from a community where poverty affected newborn and elderly alike. i understand main street america and main street south carolina. in bamburg and denmark, south carolina, i remember going to pools five and dime and helen's florest growing up. some of those businesses aren't there anymore. the small businesses aren't surviving. for me, it was about a balance. i think the minimum wage needs to be raised. but i think gradually we can find that balance so that we don't put too much of a burden on our small business but we also care about those people working every day. >> there are -- i have to ask -- there are reports that you are going to play a bit of a prominent role on a reality tv

show that's set to air soon. you were arrested for dui last fall. those charges were dropped. what do you say to those who argue that you might not necessarily be ready for primetime just yet? >> well, that's people's opinion, mr. melvin. for me, every day, i get up in the morning and say my prayers. every night, i go to bed, i say my prayers. it's about changing south carolina. i fundamentally believe that there are so many people who fought so hard for me to have the opportunities i have today. along the way, we'll have our bumps and bruises. but as you know, it's not about how you respond or how you get knocked down, it's about how you get up. i've been a leader in this state for the past eight years and done everything i could do for my constituents. my hope is that in 2014, i will be able to make history. we haven't had an african-american elected official since 1872. it's time for a change. >> thank you for your time. good to see you.

>> thank you. it was on this day in 1961 that president john f kennedy by executive order established the peace corps. the whole idea was something very new to americans. >> the vanguard of peace corps volunteers who will fan throughout the world to aid underdeveloped countries, a rugged physical examination is first on the agenda for the 128 youths who are seeking to fill 64 vacancies in the mission to colombia. this south american country will be among the first to be included in the plan. others in the initial group are ghana in africa and st. lucia in the west indies. the group of unpaid volunteers gathers to hear the sergeant, peace corps director. he calls it the most important project the u.s. has attempted in a decade and says its success would mean much to democracy. >> later that year, more than 500 peace corps volunteers left

to serve in nine host countries while another 200 were in training. here's president kennedy speaking to a group of peace corps volunteers on the south lawn of the white house the following year. >> i think the united states is so heavily involved in so many parts of the world. we are so in need of dedicated men and women of talent and experience that i can think of no more significant recruiting grounds than the peace corps. >> since it started, more than 215,000 have served in the peace corps in some 139 countries around the world. one of those peace corps alumni, msnbc's own chris matthews. in the last 23 years, but i needed help in quitting smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced the urge for me to smoke. it actually caught me by surprise. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix.

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take a look. another major winter storm is headed for the east coast tomorrow night into monday. the storm will likely put indianapolis in the record books for the snowiest winter ever. that's saying a lot for indianapolis.

it snows a lot every year there. they're going to get between 6 and 10 inches of snow. new york expected to get between 4 and 8 inches of snow. and those estimates are better than the estimates we got earlier this week. we all know the weather is very hard to predict. but what if you could make it more accurate by sharing what the weather is like just by looking outside your window? it's today today's big idea. a mobile weather app not only gives you the forecast but allows you to make that forecast accurate. it's got this cool crowd sourcing feature giving people the opportunity to report the weather as they see it. if enough users report data that contradicts the app's weather models, the weather report changes. justin is the creator of the app. that's pretty cool. >> thanks, thanks. >> how did you come up with it? >> actually, it was a co-founder that came up with it, running from meeting to meeting in new york. he said, if i would have waited

five minutes or move five minutes quicker, i could have dodged this summer downpour. so he felt that we know what's happening kind of on the ground. and we know which direction the wind is going. we should be able to determine based on a sequence of people what is about to happen. it all sprung from that idea. >> what's wrong with the current forecasting apps? >> a lot of people ask that. basically -- >> especially, i would note, the weather channel app. >> well, i don't want to get -- they're a great team. basically we take weather from a very high level. often we see there's going to be precipitation at a high level and it doesn't actually hit the ground all the time. not only that is that the radar image you often see is delayed. so it can be delayed by up to 15 minutes and then you're going to get wet if you haven't picked up on that. >> how do you ensure the app's accuracy?

>> well, it's a game that we're never going to really solve -- >> you sound like a meteorologist now. >> i think we're getting closer. but basically what we do is take a bunch of people's contributions, decide if they corroborate. if they all match up in a certain small area, we update the forecast and we'll send you a notification to say, all our things are pointing to the fact that it's going to rain on you in the next five minutes. >> what are you finding in terms of how your app matches traditional weather forecasting apps? are they pretty much in line -- >> we're getting much better accuracy. there's a reason why we're focusing on the east coast because most of the weather comes off the land across from the west coast. this kind of app -- and predicting weather across the west coast is much tougher because it comes over the water. so we are in a much better position here because we have people all along and the weather travels from west to east. >> justin re, it's called the minutely app.

thank you. >> thanks so much. >> do you have a big idea that's making a difference. tell us about it by e-mailing us. there it is right there on your screen. you can also tweet us as well. millions of us are bumping our way through the winter, thanks to the countless potholes on the road. but they are just one symptom of a much larger problem that we are facing today. we're going to talk about that on the other side of this break. later, moving up inside the west wing. some say that's the plan for vice president joe biden. but does it make sense? you're watching msnbc. where bacteria can multiply. polident kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. that's why i recommend polident. [ male announcer ] cleaner, fresher, brighter every day.

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that is a very, very familiar sound for so many of us this winter, so familiar that

car dealerships and mechanics around this country are running pothole specials. ever wonder what makes a pothole to begin with? here's nbc's katy tur. >> reporter: how does the winter weather actually cause potholes? the pavement is just the top layer. below that is a base layer of gravel, below that, soil. when it rains, water seeps through the pavement. if cold enough, it can freeze and expand. when it melts, a hole is created between the pavement and the base layer, whenning mean a car drives over the now weakened spot in the pavement, it breaks and a pothole is born. >> nbc's katy tur there with the help of one heck of an art and graphics department as well, we should add. potholes are perhaps the symptom. our infrastructure is very much diseased in america. this week, president obama proposed raising the federal gas tax to pay for an upgrade to the

nation's roads, bridges and tunnels. ray lahood, former secretary of transportation. the white house says raising the gas tax in this country could bring in about $150 billion. i don't think it's been raised, correct me if i'm wrong, since the early '90s. according to the american society of civil engineers, though, we need another more like $3.5 trillion, not an exaggeration. you know this, secretary. raising the gasoline tax, is going to be an uphill legislative battle. $3.5 trillion, certainly isn't going to happen. what are we left to do? >> well, we need to start somewhere, craig. and the president put forth a good proposal, the chairman of the ways and means committee put forth a good proposal this week in his tax reform bill. he includes an opportunity to use some money for infrastructure. we're in a very bad place in america. we're in a crisis, as your piece

just before this interview began, showed us. america is one big pothole. we've all fallen in them, whether we're in washington or new york or chicago or any community around america. america is one big pothole. we need to really have an opportunity to have a big, bold vision from people and a view that says we have to have the resources to fix up our roads and bridges. >> i don't want to belabor this point, but you would think with all the advancements that have been made in science and engineering that we would be able to design roads and highways that last a little longer, that can withstand the elements a little better, no? >> well, we do, craig. and as new roads are being built, unfortunately we haven't had the money to build new roads. but as they are being built, they do last a lot longer. the potholes shown in the piece you showed earlier and that tom costello talked about in a piece that he did on nbc earlier this week, these are roads in new

york, chicago, d.c., l.a., that were built 20 years ago. and they haven't really been fixed up. and so we do have the technology to build better roads. what we need now is the money to fix up the roads we have and continue to make progress in america. people want good infrastructure. america was number one in infrastructure for a long time, craig. we are not number one anymore. and it's because we haven't put the resources into it. the gas tax hasn't been raised, as you said, since 1993. we need to raise the gas tax. we need to look at other revenues. we need to index the gas tax. we need to give america an opportunity to have safe bridges, good roads, because it creates jobs and it creates economic development. >> former secretary of transportation ray lahood, thank you, sir. appreciate your insight. after a quick break here, vladimir putin has asked his parliament for permission to send troops into ukraine. they've approved.

now the question is, will he and to what extent? we'll get the latest in several live reports from ukraine, moscow and the white house. you're watching msnbc. orn to help people clean better, and that he travels the world inventing amazing new cleaners, like his newest invention, liquid muscle, that lifts and cleans tough grease with less scrubbing. it's a liquid gel, so it's less watery and cleans more. and its cap stops by itself so almost nothing's wasted. ♪ no matter where he went or who he helped, people couldn't thank him enough. new mr. clean liquid muscle. when it comes to clean, there's only one mr. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation.

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♪ we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the russian federation inside of ukraine. >> deep concerns and deep tensions. good saturday afternoon to you. i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc. russian troops are on the ground in southern ukraine. now the question is, are there more on the way? i can't think of a time for real since i was elected in '72 where the majority of the american people agreed with us on every major issue we're for. >> three times a charm? there are a lot of people very close to the vice president who want him to take another shot at the nation's highest office.

i think that we have really hit a watershed moment. there's been a true emergence of commonsense conservatism that's trumped people on a socially conservative, ideological right. >> arizona's sb-1062 got the veto from the governor. but it might just be the beginning. and spike lee, never one to shy away from controversy, sparking a lot of conversations with his comments about genert y gentryfication. the united nations taking action on the crisis in ukraine. a u.n. spokesman said a short time ago that secretary-general ban ki-moon will be speaking shortly with russia's president, vladimir putin, about the crisis there. the russian parliament earlier today giving president putin the authority to use military forces

inside the region. we have three reports this afternoon. nbc's jim maceda is in moscow, nbc chief global correspondent bill neely is in crimea and kristen welker is at the white house for us. bill, let me start with you on the ground there. what are you seeing on the ground? what are you hearing? >> reporter: craig, there's no question the crisis here in crimea is deepening. and so, too, are worries about an imminent russian takeover. there are russian boots on the ground here. we've seen them at key sites. they're at the interior ministry with rocket-propelled grenades. they've ringed the parliament with machine guns on the ground showing their force and they've been in other places, for example, at the airport guarding an airport where last night we believe up to a dozen russian transport planes arrived carrying men and ammunition. so no question that they are here. ukraine's defense ministry very alarmed at this. they're saying 6,000 russian

troops have arrived. we can't confirm that number but they're worried in kiev because they've basically lost control of this bit of ukraine. and indeed there were serious riots really in the biggest pro-russian city in ukraine, kharkov tonight, where they stormed the government building and put up russian flags. >> bill, crimea's prime minister is allied with the putin government. ukraine's put its forces on alert today, issued a warning to russia. bill neely, how quickly could this situation reach a boiling point on the ground there? >> reporter: well, it is a tinderbox. and people, i think, will wake up tomorrow morning and be looking at the airport to see if more russian troops will arrive. vladimir putin's spokesman says that he hasn't actually made a decision in spite of the parliament's vote.

no decision to send additional troops. but obviously that could happen any time. and russia is not going to send a few hundred or even in the low thousands. if they come here, they're going to come in some numbers. so alarm in washington, in london, in kiev. but really what can anyone do about a region that is russian in original, three-quarters of the people here speak russian? i've been speaking to them today. and they welcome the arrival of russian troops. so difficult for these leaders really to do anything. >> bill neely on the ground for us in crimea, thanks as always. appreciate you. let's turn to nbc's jim maceda now live for us in moscow. let's pick up where bill left off to a certain extent. the approval of putin's request to use russian troops, what does that mean and what does that not necessarily mean as well? >> reporter: hi, craig. first of all, it's largely

symbolic in that the approval for the use of force was a formality by putin's rubber stamp parliament. it doesn't mean putin will send in a lot more troops or more troops in general to crimea. there are thousands there already, all part of russia's strategic black sea fleet. what the approval does mean is that a russian mobilization, as bill said, in crimea is now official. there's nothing more to hide. those russian soldiers may have been mysterious 48 hours ago. but they could all put their patches back on now. of course the approval gives putin more options. it authorizes him to strike not just in crimea but anywhere in ukraine and most of all perhaps it puts more pressure on kiev to come to the negotiating table on putin's terms. there's certainly no sign of that yet, in fact, just the contrary. >> jim, what if anything have the russians been saying, russian legislators, specifically? what have they been saying about

what president obama said yesterday in that friday afternoon news conference? >> reporter: well, there's certainly been a lot of anger from the lawmakers, russian lawmakers in the russian parliament. today, many calling president obama's warning last night of consequences and costs against russia an insult, even saying that it crossed a red line and it led lawmakers to recall today the russian ambassador in washington. and it's clear that the already cool relations, perhaps cold war-like, between russia and the u.s. over issues like syria and iran and edward snowden and missile defense, certainly got a lot worse now over ukraine. back to you. >> nbc's jim maceda for us in moscow, thank you. there has been some activity today at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. nbc's kristen welker standing by for us. kristen, i understand we saw

some national security officials leaving this afternoon. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: right. the defense secretary, james clapper, they left the white house earlier today. i can tell you, there are still a few black suvs parked outside of the west wing, a suggestion that there could still be some high-level meetings going on. we also know that defense secretary hagel spoke with his russian counterpart earlier today. white house officials telling me that senior administration officials are monitoring the developments in the ukraine quite closely. now, of course, all of this comes after yesterday's stern warning from president obama who said there would be costs if russia were to engage militarily in ukraine. the question is, what will those costs be? the president vague about that yesterday. but officials here tell nbc news that it could include a boycott of the g-8 summit. that will be held in sochi, russia, this summer.

a boycott not just of the u.s. but also of its european allies. that's one of the things that's under consideration. not surprisingly, craig, some of the more hawkish members of congress would like to see the president taking a tougher stance. we're getting this reaction from senator john mccain today who released a statement which reads, there is a range of serious options at our disposal at this time without the use of military force. i call on president obama to rally our european and nato allies for what costs russia will face and to impose the consequences without further delay. so the question is, what if any actions will this administration take? we're still waiting to hear more information about that and also to get some details about the meetings that have been held here throughout the day. back to you. >> nbc's kristen welker at the white house for us, kristen, thank you. scarred by wildfire and now soaked by torrential downpours. california is being battered by

bands of intense rains. we'll go there. later, after arizona's sb-1062 bill, it's not the end. there are others just like it. what's behind the push? that's coming up here on msnbc. meet our contestant. will she choose to help maintain her hands... or to really clean her dishes? oooh, we have a game changer?! [ female announcer ] dawn hand renewal with olay beauty has a specially designed formula that helps lock in your hands' natural moisture while getting dishes squeaky clean. [ sponge ] sparkling dishes and fabulous hands -- she looks happy about those prizes! [ female announcer ] dawn does more. [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. ♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems.

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a flash flood watch remains in effect for a large swath of southern california this afternoon. more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes because of mud slides and unstable hillsides there. the rains are expected to continue through the weekend and could dump as much as 10 more inches of rain in some communities. three people were rescued when an avalanche smashed into a home in missoula, montana. the survivors were an elderly couple and an 8-year-old boy. parts of the house were upended

and lying on its side. authorities say avalanche conditions around the city remain quite dangerous after a storm brought blizzard conditions to the region. and in the yunnan province of china, a group of knife-wielding men attacked a train session killing 27 and leaving 109 hurt. local television says several of the attackers were shot by police. the motive behind that attack at this point, not immediately clear. back to politics now, joe being joe. it is a phrase that we have heard for years now. but is the vice president getting ready for a 2016 presidential run? a new politico magazine article is putting a spotlight on the vice president and who's made clear that he is considering another run at the white house. angela rise, political strategist and principal of impact strategies, and michael steele, former chairman of the

republican national committee, good to see you both on a saturday afternoon. angela, here's a quote from the politico article -- every one of the dozen biden friends i interviewed predicted that he wouldn't actually run in 2016. every one of them. then again, every single one also said, it wouldn't be a surprise if he jumped in at the last minute to keep this great ride going as long as possible as one veteran biden staffer told me. angela, do we think he is going to run? >> i think it's clear from the quote at this point we're really unsure. one thing is for certain, joe biden has a knack for politics and he loves this stuff. he's been in it for over four decades. obviously before he served as vice president, was a champion in the senate. he absolutely loves not just the political process but the people involved. folks make fun of him often at the state of the union and kind of all that's going on in the background. but he is just in love with this process. so i wouldn't be surprised if he

ran. but then again, i wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. >> michael, this is what vice president joe biden said are his selling points for a run, according to the article in politico. quote, i think i'm qualified by the record i have demonstrated over the years, by the experience i have, by the significant knowledge i have of not only foreign policy but individual leaders in foreign countries and domestically as well. could this type of experience, specifically -- we know he was chairman of the senate foreign relations committee for a number of years. could this type of experience be more significant this cycle considering the relative inexperience, foreign inexperience of some of the top republican names who could run in 2016? >> it could be. to angela's point, we don't know. but i think there's a side of joe and i think it's a stronger side of him, that wants to do this. he wants to make this last run. he's bitten at this apple before and had to spit it out. he doesn't want to have to do that again. he'd like to take a full bite

and digest it completely. i think he's putting his experience out there as a marker to say, when you look at the rest of the field, whether it's on the democratic side or the republican side, that i will stand out and i will make a difference. as we begin as you led this program with what's going on in crimea and kiev and with russia, again, he's going to put those stalking horses out there that says on domestic and foreign policy, i've been in the fight and i can bring that fight to the table on behalf of the american people. make for very interesting dynamic. only joe will be able to do it the way joe wants to do it. but until he makes up his mind, this is going to be part of the conversation. hillary clinton is going to have to consider it as well as republicans. >> angela, would joe biden make hillary clinton -- would he make her a stronger candidate or a weaker candidate in a general election? >> i think that because of their friendship, he would make her a stronger candidate. i don't think he would ever do

anything to undermine the secretary of state that served in the first term of president obama's cabinet. i just don't see any way in which he would play nasty politics with someone who's had a friendship with for so long, including during the clinton administration when she served as first lady. i don't see him weakening her in any way or throwing stones in a way that would weaken her candidacy. i don't see that happening at all. >> angela rye, michael steele, we'll see you in a few minutes as part of the "brain trust," we'll talk about angela's snazzy new glasses. it's a good look. still to come, spike lee ruffling some feathers this week with comments that he made about how his old neighborhood has changed in recent years. what he said and what other folks are saying about what he said. this is msnbc. but there are some places even mr. clean doesn't want to lug a whole bunch of cleaning supplies. that's why he created the magic eraser extra power.

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president obama will be hitting the road this coming

week to push raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. one congress is not waiting to make his case for a minimum wage increase. there he is right there, congressman steve horsford. spent part of his house recess driving a u.p.s. truck. congressman horsford is with us now. representative, democrat from nevada, always good to see you. what were you trying to prove there? what was the goal? >> the goal really was to get a on-the-ground perspective of what hardworking americans do every day and to focus on the need to give americans a raise to help lift the wages for 30 million americans who deserve an increase in the federal wage. u.p.s. is a great example of a company that's already doing good things. their starting wage for entry level position is about $11, $12 an hour. the average driver makes $32 an

hour with full medical benefits for part-time and full-time workers. but for far too many americans who are living off of minimum wage today, 56% of whom are women, you can't live off of $14,500 a year, which is what people earn at $7.25 an hour currently. >> why didn't you go somewhere and earn $7.25? why not go to a fast-food joint? the folks at u.p.s. earn a decent wage when you look at that wage compared to the minimum wage, the federal minimum wage? >> part of it is to show that good employers doing right by their employees are the example. and when ceos are making record profits, earning salaries higher than ever before and getting bonuses that are record-breaking, it's time to give americans a raise who are helping to create those profits for those ceos.

>> this is what speaker john boehner said in pushing back against raising the minimum wage. take a listen. >> we know from increase of minimum wage in the past that hundreds of thousands of low-income americans have lost their jobs. and so the very people the president purports to help are the ones who are going to get hurt by this. you look at african-americans and hispanics, they're the people who will never have a chance to get on the economic level. it's bad policy. >> the nonpartisan congressional budget office releasing a report, you're familiar with this report, i know you are, that says in part raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would lift 900,000 people out of poverty but perhaps at a cost of 500,000 jobs. what's your response to the speaker and that cbo report? >> well, first, it's disingenuous for the speaker or anyone else to cherry-pick certain parts of the cbo report.

what that report really focused on was the fact that 30 million americans would see their wages boosted by increasing the federal minimum wage. this is not a partisan issue. the federal minimum wage was increased under republicans, both republican presidents and republican congresses. this is about helping to grow our economy from the middle out. and it starts by giving americans a raise to $10.10 an hour. >> you know that you and your colleagues don't necessarily have the best reputation when it comes to actually getting things done in d.c. with regards to major substantive legislative issues. with so little happening right now, what makes you think that this is something that politically could happen in washington, d.c. this year? >> well, first, if we're listening to our constituents,

then we would do our job, which is to respond to the fact that more than two-thirds of americans support increasing the federal minimum wage, regardless if you're democrat, republican, independent. this is something that everyone supports. and we did this week file a discharge petition with 191 members saying, mr. speaker, give us an opportunity to vote to give americans a raise. >> have we heard from the speaker's office yet? >> well, we will continue pushing. and when we get to that number, 218, then the rules allow for the bill to come up for a vote. >> congressman steve horsford from nevada, congressman, thank you. >> thank you, craig. religious freedom laws like the one arizona's governor vetoed this week are popping up in several other states as well. what's behind the push? that's ahead. plus -- spike lee, making waves with some comments about how his old neighborhood has shifted shades in recent years. this is msnbc.

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back to our breaking news now. the quickly changing situation in ukraine. an emergency session of the u.n. security council is under way at this hour. u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon is expected to take the podium there at some point we're told. we do know at this point that he spoke with russia's president, vladimir putin, at some point a short time ago. william taylor is a former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. he is currently with the united states institute of peace. ambassador, thanks for joining me. first of all, let's talk about recourses that the united states -- that we have in ukraine right now. what are they? what are our options? >> our options are to make it very clear, very clear to the world and to the russians that this action that they've taken in ukraine is unacceptable. i'm sure we're starting in the

security council. the russians hope to host the g-8 leaders. we should skip that. we should tell them that we are not -- we taught to think about expelling the russians from the this g-8. it should go back to the g-7, we ought to consider that. >> is that realistic, to expel russia from the g-8? >> of course. we let them in, why couldn't we let them out? >> is a russian move inevitable, an additional move? >> no, i don't think it's inevitab inevitable. mr. putin yesterday said he was going to work with the new government, he was going to work with international monetary fund, the imf, on a support package for ukraine. but now he's apparently directing his military to take these actions in order to provoke the yishg iukrainians. the ukrainians ought not to take that bait. >> what are we really seeing here besides what's happening on the ground? what's this really about?

>> this is really about russia and its decision to be a responsible member of the international community or its decision to be an outlaw. it looks like it's leaning toward outlaw. but it's not there yet. >> what would be gained by being an international outlaw? what would the motivation be for president putin? >> i assume president putin puts a very high value on control of or direct influence over ukraine. ukraine is the key to a larger sphere of influence for the russians and mr. putin knows it. and the europeans and the ukrainians know it. >> the stern warning yesterday from president obama to russia, there will be costs. did president obama box himself in yesterday or is that the kind of language that was necessary, that is necessary? >> i think that's the kind of action that's necessary, as well as the kind of language that's necessary. the international community not just the americans certainly led

by the americans, but the international community needs to make it very clear that outlaws have no place in the international community. >> how effective can sanctions be, though? how effective can sanctions be in russia, on russia? >> sanctions can certainly be used. they can be effective. the russians require just like all nations to trade. if they are a pariah state, an outlaw state, they should be excluded from those kinds of interactions. >> over the next 48, 72 hours, what should we be paying closest attention to with regard to how the situation plays out? >> we should be very, very -- paying very close attention to who moves first, the ukrainians ought not to move first. the russians tried and successfully got the georgians to move first to attack and to be sucked into a trap in 2008. the ukrainians should learn from that and should not be pulled

into that trap. so we should -- the international community through all of the sources of information that we have, should be monitoring this very carefully so we can tell who's moving first. >> ambassador william taylor, ambassador, thank you for that insight. >> thank you. let's pivot here. arizona governor jan brew vetoed a controversial bill this week. it would allowed arizona businesses to refuse service to customers if they felt it would violate their religious beliefs. many believe that would allow some arizona businesses to discriminate. but the issue didn't die with the arizona defeat. similar measures are being considered in a number of other states. i want to bring in a reporter for msnbc.com. adam, you write that laws similar to the ones in arizona are being considered in at least 12 other states right now. how likely is it that these measures will pass in at least

some of those states? >> well, just to give you a little bit of an update, most of those efforts have failed in no small part because the attempt to pass the arizona law was really considered a disaster. it drew a lot of negative publicity to the state. and conservatives were very angry at what they felt was misleading coverage of the law. but i think most states that have been considering these laws, there are only a few left that really have them on the table. >> most of the opposition to arizona's proposed law was based on financial considerations. was it financial concerns and not necessarily discrimination issues that led governor brewer to veto arizona's bill? >> i'm not privy to the governor's thinking but business interests really didn't like the bill. they didn't like the publicity the bill was getting. businesses, corporations like to attract young talent and young people are very pro-gay rights. there were concerns about what kind of legal issues might come

up if the law was passed. i just want to keep in mind, though, that arizona had a religious freedom law in place. a lot of these other states did as well. this was an alteration to the existing religious freedom law which was aimed largely if you listened to what the legislators were concerned about, largely at businesses that didn't want to serve same-sex marriages. >> national acceptance of same-sex marriage is, as you know, on the increase in many parts of this country. can these so-called religious freedom laws, can they be seen as perhaps a backlash of sorts to the legalization of same-sex marriage? >> well, again, a lot of these religious freedom laws were already in place. people were trying to create an adjustment to these laws that would allow people to cite as a defense religion if they didn't want to -- in particular if they didn't want to serve a customer. but the laws were not so specific as to say, well, you don't have to serve a gay person. they were just stating that you

could cite religion as a reason not to do so in a court proceeding. now, whether or not they're a backlash to same-sex marriage, it's obvious the changes were proposed for that reason because that's what the legislators said that they were concerned about. i don't think it's going to do anything to stem the tide of support for same-sex marriage or for gay rights generally. >> adam, thank you. up next, the "brain trust," spike lee, this is msnbc. suddee a mouthbreather. well, put on a breathe right strip and instantly open your nose up to 38% more than cold medicines alone. so you can breathe and sleep. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right.

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let's get to the "brain trust" on this saturday afternoon. angela rye, principal of impact strategies. molly ball, national reporter for "the atlantic," michael steele, msnbc political analyst, former chairman of the rnc. thanks for being with me. mike, let me start with you and let's start with what is happening in ukraine right now, the crisis in ukraine. senator mccain this afternoon saying president obama needs to make his intentions clear.

do we think at this point that the administration is moving quickly enough? >> that's a hard question to answer because i think this has kind of caught a number of folks a little bit flatfooted, to be honest. a lot of folks keep saying, we need to do something. what are we going to do? the options are limited. certainly i think there's going to be a lot of back channel pressure from the white house on putin to stay out of ukraine. i think the interim president just really in the last few minutes said that he's confident that russia will not invade. but i think there's a lot of forward pressure to act militarily here. i think the president is taking sort of a longer view over the next few weeks, how do we play this out as opposed to reacting in this particular instance? i think a lot of folks need to give the president the latitude to do what he needs to do to put russia in check as much as possible before we start talking

about sanctions and invasions and troops moving in. >> molly, president obama, we know based on our reporting from kristen welker at the white house earlier in the broadcast, that the president met with the secretary of defense, other national security officials. we can assume that ukraine was at the top of that agenda. what are some of the political calculations that the president and this maeadministration are going to likely have to consider as it moves forward with ukraine? >> as michael just said, this is a very fast-moving situation and i think the priority at this point has to just be getting a handle on what is happening and weighing that menu of diplomatic options, trying to figure out if there's a chance those can have any effect on someone like putin who clearly takes some amount of pleasure in flouting the west and this administration in particular. but we have to see what russia is doing before we can react to it. and there's going to be pressure -- i think it's going

to be bipart p i don't think this is going to be a particularly partisan thing. we're already hearing calls from both sides of the aisle, putting pressure on the administration to step it up. but after literally a day of this crisis, it's hard to really say whether they're moving fast enough. >> this particular part of the crisis, we should note here. this has been going on for a while there. let's pivot and talk about something else that a lot of folks especially here in new york city have been talking about this week. the squabble over some comments that film director spike lee made about gentrification here in new york. we've had to clean them up a little bit for saturday afternoon on cable. this is part of what he said. take a listen. >> it's changed and why does it take an influx of white new yorkers in the south bronx, in harlem, in bed stuy, in crown heights for the facilities to get better? the garbage wasn't picked up every [ bleep ] day when i was

living in 165 washington park. >> again, that's the portion that we could play without having to alter it significantly. spike lee at an event tuesday in new york city, a black history month event, talking about gentrification, talking about it being a destructive force in long-established neighborhoods and communities. he was talking about new york. but this is something that especially down in washington, d.c. that a lot of folks talk about as well, angela. is pike lee right, angela rye? >> well, let me give it this context, craig. spike lee is the director of the famous "do the right thing." he touches race relations like nobody's business in that film. so when you have that kind of context, you know this is someone that is not a bigot. this is an issue that he's been personally impacted by. he talked about the way in which his father who plays an instrument had the police called on him when he's done it for

decades and he owns his home. he's talking about the disruption of gentrification, the issue of housing affordability and what we can do to ensure that when people come into neighborhoods and they become more integrated over time that it doesn't disrupt and move out the people that have been there for years. i've seen it happen in my own hometown in seattle, washington, where my friends that i grew up with around seward park now live in kent, washington, because they can't afford to live anywhere else. that's the part of gentrification that needs to be addressed. and i think that is what he was trying to do, although very colorfully and very passionately in his remarks. >> there are some who are taking issue with the fact that it was spike lee himself who was addressing gentrification. this is what errol lewis wrote in part, it's the sacred right of every new yorker to bewail, blame and bemoan the arrival of the folks who arrive in the neighborhood five minutes after we do. but somebody has to call bull on lee's complaints about gentrification.

this is a man who has made epic contributions to the phenomenon he finds so troubling. michael steele, a lot of folks know that spike lee has spent a great deal of money buying up property in this neighborhood. he's flipped some property as well. he's got a $32 million home. is he really the person to claim this mantle? >> i don't know if he's the person to claim the mantle. but i say bravo to what he said. i'm less worried about who said it and more focused on the substance of the argument he's making. it's a very legitimate argument that has impacted the economic prosperity, future prosperity of black neighborhoods across this country. i've seen it in my hometown of washington, d.c. i saw it as lieutenant governor of maryland as corporate interest began to expand around the city of baltimore, i would sit in meetings and ask the question, this is great we're going to bring this store and that store and all this business to this community. what happens to the 70-year-old

grandmother who's been here for 40 years? what happens to her? no one bothers to take the time to ask the question of the full impact of gentrification on established are black communities. the flip side of that, i think the rest of the argument that he should be making is, as a black community, we owe it to ourselves to invest first in these communities so that you don't have the issue of whites coming in and all of this that seems to bother a lot of people, support black-owned businesses in those neighborhoods first and you begin to see we have our own level of gent iffication of folks who look like us, as opposed to folks coming in from the outside. bravo for making the issue prominent because it's long overdue. >> here's the thing. you guys are all there in washington, d.c., you would perhaps be hard-pressed to find a better example of gentrification personified than our nation's capital. i say this in full disclosure. i own a place off u street where

25, 30 years ago, there were a lot of folks who would not go near u street and then all of a sudden high-rises come up -- it's fascinating, molly, because there are those -- again, to play devil's advocate, there are those who have made the argument na ge that gentrification is a good thing. the same article, quote, gentrification doesn't need to be something that one group inflicts on another. often it's the result ofs a separations everybody shares. that's from the "new york" magazine. what's your response, molly? >> the interesting question here on a policy level is does gentrification make neighborhoods better or worse? you saw spike lee sort of on both sides of that question. he's saying on the one hand, the trash didn't start getting picked up and the schools didn't start getting better until the white people got there. that suggests that gentrification is lifting up these neighborhoods. and the problem is that it's displacing those people. obviously people should get their trash picked up and the schools should get the same level of attention no matter what the income level of those

communities are. but what spike lee was responding to was a request from the audience about an article in "the new york times" based on new social science data that suggests the gentrification is a net plus for neighborhoods, that people don't like it when neighborhoods change. and i think that that's a good point that everyone who's ever lived in new york talks about how it was better when they first got there. but beyond that sort of feeling of unease, of disquietude, are these neighborhoods displacing people in a net-negative for these communities or lifting them up? this was a social scientist studying this question and finding that few people were actually displaced and incomes improved and livelihoods improved for the people in those neighborhoods. >> it's a fascinating conversation. when we come back, we're going to get your overlooked and underplayed of the week. more with the "brain trust" on the other side of the break. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day.

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the brain trust is back. angela, molly, michael steele and former rnc chairman. angela, what was your story? >> mine is "it takes a village," created by my brother's keeper. there's funding behind this initiative to address the plight of young boys in this country. >> it was very unusual to hear the president talk about it in very personal terms. i felt that we heard and saw a side of president obama that we don't see ever. very rarely do you hear the president speak the way he did on thursday. it's going to be interesting to see where we are 18 months, 20

months from now with regard to that initiative. >> absolutely. it's five years. let's all get involved and try to make a difference. it's so important. >> mine was a story by zeke miller in "time" magazine. for a president who was quoted "i don't think america's elections should be bankrupt by america's most powerful interests," that's exactly what the president is doing now as they realize they have to catch with the republicans in the super pac game. i won't use the term hypocrisy, but i will say evolving has been very interesting to watch over this presidential cycle and election cycle to see how the democrats get behind this idea of super pacs. >> there are those who would argue the president has tried and talked about changing the

rules and could not successfully do so. so if you can't change the rules, don't you really just -- aren't you forced to play by those rules to compete? >> i don't buy it. back in 2008 when he had an opportunity to join john mccain in not accepting public donations and to publicly fund his campaign, he didn't. he took the big money, he followed hollywood and followed wall street. the reality is that is the completion of that circle. i appreciate your point but it's lost on the facts that the president has not been exactly honest in how he's approached this issue. >> the courts have not helped either. >> 2008 was long before citizens united. >> molly, overlooked and underplayed? >> the short hand is republicans expanding the senate map and congressman cory gardner said he was going to run for senate and the previous front-runner, ken

buck, dropped out of that race and so did another candidate. this was the week we celebrated the five-year anniversary of the tea party but at the same time we see all of the disruption that the tea party wreaked in senate primaries starting to die down, less chaos, more ability for the republican establishment to engineer the best candidate through the primary but potentially not have the grass roots black ball the establishment's choice. that gives republicans a much better chance to dominate that senate map in november. we see them continuing to expand into states where they previously weren't really expected to have a strong candidate. >> michael, you're familiar with some of these republican back room dealings, i would assume. what kind of deal went down in colorado? >> a very carefully crafted one for sure. molly has hit it right.

the fact of the matter is you have a lot of folks now taking a hands-on interest of how these primaries play themselves out. i remember trying to wrestle control in delaware to save that senate race back in the day. now we've come around full circle and i think the establishment has realized that this is not about alienating tea party but about actually cooperating and sort of closing the ranks and some candidates that can really win. >> angela, is the gop going to be mainstream once again for the mid terms? >> i highly doubt that. there's so much let to do. they have not done much, it's still dying as it relates to people of color and the gay community. >> she's right about that. >> amen. >> we didn't get a chance to

talk about your glasses. is this going to be a new thing is this. >> you're just showing how you never watch me on tv. this is not a new thing. rare but not new. my eyes are hurting, the snow or the dry weather, i don't know. >> the senate has already declared a snow day in washington, d.c. on monday. molly ball from the "atlantic," good to see all of you. angela rye i will watch you more often. i'll see you back here tomorrow afternoon, 3:00 eastern. right now it's "disrupt." we just had karen finney on and she's going to be right back. look at that, we can't get enough of karen on a saturday afternoon. see you tomorrow. you know, i don't think i was meant to sweep. it's a little frustrating. look. [ zach ] i can't help out as much as i used to. do you need help? [ doorbell rings ] let's open it up.

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this hour. we're going to look at the latest response of the white house to the rapid developments in ukraine. and are women the key for a democratic sweep in 2014? >> we are now deeply concerned of reports of military movements taken by the russian federation. >> what is russia up to here? >> the united states will stand with the international community in affirming there will be costs for any military intervention in ukraine? >> it's an outrage women can still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. >> there's got to be some down side on having a woman president. something. something that may not fit with that office. >> this isn't 1954. it's 2014. a woman deserves equal pay for equal work. in some states they're so far in th